Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Guinness Beef Stew

I absolutely love stew in the winter.  Growing up in England I have fond memories of big pots of beef or lamb stew simmering away for hours and nothing says winter food to me more than a bowl of hot stew, suet dumplings are a must but unfortunately for me this time I was all out of the vegetable suet I need to make my dumplings, but the stew was still delicious.

This is a little different than the traditional stew that I make, with the addition of the Guinness, I guess it made it more of an Irish stew, but that's close enough to home for me!


2 lbs boneless stew beef
1 large onion, chopped
3 parsnips
3 carrots
3 potatoes
2 celery stalks
1 bottle Guinness
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
2 sprigs fresh time
1 bay leaf
2 cups beef broth
salt and pepper
flour for coating

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large pan.  Coat the beef chunks in the flour and brown in the oil.  Add the browned beef to the bottom of a slow cooker.  Top with the chopped onion, the peeled and chopped vegetables season with salt and pepper.

Pour the beef broth and Guinness into the slow cooker, stir in the tomato paste, worcester sauce and add in the bay leaf and thyme.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Pin It

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Zucchini Bread

I have been experimenting with a few different zucchini bread recipes lately, some ended up too plain, some with far too much cinnamon but I think I finally found a zucchini bread with a good balance of flavour and spice from My Recipe Magic.

Randal ended up taking all the test zucchini breads to work and this recipe was the most popular there as well.


3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup oil
3 cups zucchini, shredded
1 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl, add the eggs and sugar and whisk together.  Stir in the zucchini.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt.  
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together.  Add in the nuts.
Pour into 2 greased bread pans, or 5 mini pans like I did.
Bake at 300 for 1 hour.

Pin It

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Tater tot casserole

Tuesday: Chicken and dumplings

Wednesday: Leftovers/emptying the fridge for Christmas

Thursday: Going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Friday: Traditional English Christmas dinner
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Monday, December 14, 2015

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Sausage and pepper pizza

Tuesday: Guiness beef stew

Wednesday: Chicken cacciatore

Thursday: Thai lettuce wraps

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sunday, December 13, 2015

SRC - Smoking Bishop

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Culinary Adventures with Camilla, which belongs to Camilla, our lovely leader of group B.   Camilla is a mom of 3 boys, a freelance writer and photographer and cookbook reviewer.  

As this was the December reveal I went straight to the Christmas recipes.  I was happy to see that a few years ago she had made a Dickensian Christmas Eve feast.  I was immediately drawn to the Figgy Pudding until Randal reminded me that at the time I was considering my recipe choice there was 3 weeks until Christmas and neither one of us would probably want to eat figgy pudding that early in the month.  I still really want to make the pudding though, maybe this year will be the year I actually do it!  

I finally decided on Smoking BishopI had never actually heard of it before, but after doing a little research I found out that it is basically a type of mulled wine, infused with roasted citrus fruits and port.  It was popular in Victorian England at Christmas time and it appears in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  


1 bottle red wine
1/2 bottle water
5 oranges
1 grapefruit
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
handful of cloves (around 20)
5 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise pods
1/2 bottle port

Bake the fruit at 350 for 1 hour.  Add the cloves and set aside.

Simmer the red wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and star anise over low heat for 30 minutes.  Take off the heat, add the roasted fruit, cover and leave over night at room temperature.  

The next day remove and juice the fruit.  Add in the juice and port and heat on low.


Pin It

Friday, December 11, 2015

Turkey a la King

I had a little Thanksgiving turkey leftover with no idea what to do with it, we were so tired of turkey sandwiches at that point so when Randal suggested making a turkey version of chicken a la king I was both happy with the suggestion but scared of actually making it.  My husband has certain dishes that he will only enjoy if they taste a certain way,  in this case he wanted this turkey dish to taste just like his favourite stouffers chicken a la king.  I was a little nervous I wouldn't be able to recreate this well enough but in the end he was quite happy with it and I was thrilled to finally be done with this years Thanksgiving turkey!


1 tbsp chicken soup base
1 cup hot water
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup sherry
1 sprig fresh thyme
pinch cayenne
pinch ground nutmeg
2 cups diced turkey
salt and pepper

 Stir the chicken soup base into the cup of hot water and set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat melt the butter, add in the bell pepper, mushrooms and celery and cook for 3 or 4 minutes.  Add in the flour and stir together.  Add in the cup of water with the chicken base, the cream, thyme, cayenne and nutmeg, followed by the turkey and season with salt and pepper.

Simmer for 20 minutes, serve over rice.


Pin It

Monday, November 30, 2015

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Turkey Tetrazzini

Tuesday:  Pizza burgers

Wednesday: Chicken a la king

Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Sweet and Sour Sausages

My husband makes these little sausages for every holiday or special occasion. Randal grew up eating them as it is a recipe he got from his Mom and I love that unlike most recipes like this it does not include barbecue sauce. 

These sausages are a delicious holiday appetizer.  You might not think that mustard and jelly would make a good sauce, but it ends up true to it's name, a little tangy from the mustard and sweet from the jelly.


1 jar redcurrant jelly (it can be difficult to find redcurrant jelly, we prefer Crosse and Blackwell, but this recipe really doesn't work with any other flavour jelly)
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1 pack Eckrich little smokies

In a medium pan add the jelly and melt.  Add in the mustard and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add in the sausages and warm through.  Serve immediately.


Pin It

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Pumpkin Roll

I really don't know why I love Thanksgiving so much, maybe because my first day in America with Randal was Thanksgiving day 2002, but I really love everything about it, except for the pumpkin pie.  This will be my 13th Thanksgiving and I still haven't come around to pumpkin pie, so that's why this year I decided to make my very first pumpkin roll.  This is a really fun to make and now I feel like my Thanksgiving is complete because I finally have a pumpkin dessert I like!



1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, mix together and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the eggs and sugar.  Mix together until light yellow, add in the pumpkin and mix together.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Pour the mixture onto a greased parchment lined sheet tray.  Spread out evenly and bake for 15 minutes.

While the cake is baking, place a tea towel or some parchment paper on the counter and dust with about 1/4 cup of icing sugar.  Once the cake is out of the oven, turn sheet tray over so that the cake falls onto the sugar covered paper.  Starting with one end of the pumpkin cake, fold the parchment paper onto the cake and start rolling.  Leave the roll to cool.

To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar together.  Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Unroll the cooled cake and spread the filling evenly, roll the cake back up and refrigerate for an hour or until ready to serve.

Pin It

Monday, November 9, 2015

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Chicken and dumpling casserole

Tuesday:  Chicken tikka, jasmine rice and naan bread

Wednesday: Fish tacos

Thursday: Chicken noodle soup

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sunday, November 8, 2015

SRC - Latkes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Oh! You Cook.  Dena has a great blog with an emphasis on Kosher foods, she is also a cookbook author of The Everything Kosher Slowcooker Cookbook.

I am really not familiar with Kosher foods, so it was really interesting and informative spending time looking through Dena's blog.  I usually go straight to the dessert section of my assigned blog each month, I was tempted by thapple fritter muffins  and the treacle tart  because it is such a classic English tart, in the end though I went with something that is completely new to me and that was the potato latkes.

They are quick and easy to make, we had them on a night that Randal grilled steaks and they were a great side to have.  We loved them and decided we would definitely be making these again!


2 large potatoes
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 tsp  kosher salt
vegetable oil

Peel and grate the potatoes.  Place the potatoes in paper towels and roll up to remove as much liquid as possible.  Place potatoes in a large bowl, add the diced onion, egg, flour and salt.  Mix together.

Add oil to a frying pan, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, heat over medium high heatAdd heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture to the pan, flatten out and fry for 3-5 minutes per side, until browned.  It is traditional to serve with apple sauce.

Pin It

Monday, November 2, 2015

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Italian sausage spaghetti

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Herb roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Thursday: Pizza burgers

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Apple Pie Cake

I have been waiting a long time to make this cake.  I am seriously obsessed with the Milk Bar layer cakes, I have made many of them now, even made a few of my own layer cakes that I still need to blog, but the reason I had to wait to make this cake was because it required apple cider and we can only get good apple cider in the Autumn.  Well, Central Market now has our favourite apple cider, so no more waiting!

The original recipe is made as a 6 inch cake, however I have been making all the layer cakes as mini cakes with 2.5 inch entremet rings, I just prefer making them this way, and it means that they end up as little individual layer cakes, and I don't have to attempt slicing a large cake!

There are quite a few steps to these layer cakes, I am used to it now, but in the beginning the recipes looked overwhelming, but broken down they are not difficult just time consuming to make the entire cake.  The liquid cheesecake, apple filling and pie crumbs can all be made a few days in advance, which definitely helps make the cake more manageable.



Barely brown butter cake:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1sp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper.

combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
 
Add in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and beat for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white and twice the size of the original butter and sugar mixture.

Add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. mix just until combined.  Pour onto the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Apple cider soak:
¼ cup apple cider
1 tsp light brown sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon

Whisk together cider, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Liquid cheesecake: 
8 ounces cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg

 Preheat the oven to 300.

Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. add the sugar and mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg.

Stream in the egg slurry. paddle for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour cheesecake in a 6 x 6-inch baking pan. bake for 20 minutes.  The cheesecake should be firmer and more set toward the outer boundaries of the baking pan but still be jiggly and loose in the dead center.

Pie crumb:
1 ½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 ½ tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until well mixed.

Add the butter and water and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.

Spread the clusters on a parchment  lined sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch.

Apple pie filling:
1 lemon
2 medium granny smith apples
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon  ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt

Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water, juice the lemon into it.
 Peel the apples, then halve and quarter them. Put each apple quarter on its side and cut a small slice down the length of the apple to remove the seeds and core. cut each apple quarter lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into fourths, leaving you with 12 small pieces from every apple quarter. transfer these pieces to the lemon water as you go.

When you’re ready to cook, drain the apples (discard the lemon water) and combine them in a medium pot with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, using a spoon to gently stir the mixture as it heats up and the apples begin to release liquid. reduce the heat and simmer the apples gently for 3 to 5 minutes. be careful not to cook the apples so much that they turn into applesauce.

Pie crumb frosting:
½ recipe pie crumb
½ cup milk
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
¼ cup icing sugar 

Combine the pie crumbs, milk, and salt in a blender, turn the speed to medium-high, and puree until smooth.

Combine the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the contents of the blender, paddle until fluffy and pale yellow.

To assemble the cake, put a piece of parchment on the counter, invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment  from the bottom of the cake. use the cake ring to stamp out circles from the cake. 

Layer 1:
Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.
Put a cake round inside the ring.
Dunk a pastry brush in the apple cider soak and give the layer of cake a good, healthy bath.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the liquid cheesecake in an even layer over the cake.
Sprinkle some of the pie crumbs evenly over the liquid cheesecake. use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.
Use the back of a spoon to spread some of the apple pie filling as evenly as possible over the crumbs.

Layer 2:
With your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall – high enough to support the height of the finished cake. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1.

Layer 3:
Nestle a cake round into the apple pie filling, cover the top of the cake with the pie crumb frosting. Garnish the frosting with the remaining pie crumbs.

Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and filling. the cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.


Pin It

Monday, October 26, 2015

Menu Plan Monday


 





Monday: Spag bol

Tuesday: Cuban sliders

Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas

Thursday: Pizza burgers

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Friday, October 23, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Butter Cupcakes

I know I just posted the pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, however in reality I made those back in early September, I have no excuse I'm just a lazy blogger!
The original cinnamon frosting was great, had no complaints with it, until I found Trader Joe's pumpkin cookie butter, the minute I laid eyes on it I knew it had to be frosting.  One of my most popular cupcakes are the Chocolate Biscoff, so how could a pumpkin version for Autumn be anything short of amazing?

All I can say is that these cakes definitely made the bake sale list and I may have gone back to Trader Joe's and stocked up on jars of pumpkin cookie butter for fear they would run out!


Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Pumpkin Cookie Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup pumpkin cookie butter spread
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar
3 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars, beat until smooth.   Mix in the eggs, followed by the milk and pumpkin puree, finally mix in the flour until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cookie butter until smooth.  Add the vanilla and icing sugar and mix until combined, add the milk and beat.

Frost the cupcakes with the frosting, melt a few tablespoons of the cookie butter in the microwave and drizzle on the cupcakes, top with crushed biscoff (the original cookie butter brand) cookies.

Pin It

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

It is that time of year again when I am testing out recipes for the United Way bake sale that is held at my husbands office every Autumn.  This year time has just flown by though because the bake sale is being held on November 2nd, and I really don't feel prepared.  I make around 15 different recipes and have my own table to fill, so I usually spend a few months testing recipes, planning and list making, and while I have tested a few recipes, here I am just over a week away and I don't even have my completed list of what I am making, haven't even started making my huge shopping list for ingredients (the amount of eggs I buy alone is crazy!) but anyway, I started out with these pumpkin spice cupcakes the minute September arrived, it may not feel like Autumn in Houston but at least I can pretend!


2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars, beat until smooth.   Mix in the eggs, followed by the milk and pumpkin puree, finally mix in the flour until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy.

Pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes and top with cinnamon.

Pin It

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Pull Apart Pizza

I have seen different variations on this bundt pan pizza, and I had been wanting to make this for a while but I was waiting until I next went to Trader Joe's to get a couple of their ready made pizza dough.

I knew that if I wanted Randal to eat this I had to include some bell peppers and onions, so I roasted the veggies ahead of time.

This was a fun dinner to try and we both enjoyed it.


2 1lb packs of prepared pizza dough (I used one plain and one herb)
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated provolone
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz pepperoni
roasted bell pepper and red onion

Roll pizza dough into small balls, place in a large bowl.  In a separate small bowl, mix together the melted butter, Italian seasoning and garlic.

Pour the butter mixture over the pizza dough balls and mix to coat.  Quarter the pepperoni and add it to the dough mixture, alone with the cheeses and mix together.  Grease the bundt pan and place the pizza dough into the pan.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Pin It

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Stuffed peppers

Tuesday: Beef stew with suet dumplings

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Chicken and dumplings casserole

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Monday, October 12, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Spag bol and salad

Tuesday: Herb roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Cottage pie

Thursday: Mango chicken stir fry

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sunday, October 11, 2015

SRC - Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Cookaholic Wife.   Nichole's blog is just so cute and I love her blog colours! She lives in Maryland with her husband and 2 cats and has been blogging since 2009.

I always love looking through all the recipes on my assigned blogs and for the first time I almost had my husband make my SRC recipe as he makes an outstanding shrimp fried rice and I saw that Nichole had a couple of different shrimp fried rice  recipes, but at the last minute I went with the Pink Lemonade Cupcakes  because I was making cupcakes for my daycare twins' 4th birthday party anyway and I already had purchased pink lemons at Central Market not really having an exact idea of what to do with them, so it just seemed like the perfect choice!

I decided against colouring the cupcakes pink, only because I wanted to colour the frosting pink so I wouldn't have to colour the fondant to make the little number fours, colouring fondant is just a sticky nightmare in my opinion!

I also went with my favourite cream cheese frosting and topped them with the Variegated Pink Lemons.


Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
1 tsp pink lemonade drink powder
3 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
zest from 1/2 a lemon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar
Pink food colouring

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a cupcake baking pan with liners.

Mix together the water and lemonade mix.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lemon zest and water mixture.  Beat for 2-3 minutes, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy, add in a few drops of pink food colouring and mix well.


Pin It
     

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Pizza

Tuesday: Cheeseburger sliders and fries

Wednesday: Cabbage rolls

Thursday: Spicy chicken sandwich, fruit salad

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Friday, September 25, 2015

Shrimp Voodoo

If you have ever had the lobster voodoo at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, this is exactly the same just made with shrimp.

Whenever we go to Ruth's Chris we always order the same things, and we always start with the fried lobster in a spicy sauce, after our last visit for our anniversary this year I decided to search for the recipe and I just so happened to find a video recipe of the exact one, we tested the recipe with shrimp though and loved it so much we have been making it every Sunday for the past few weeks!


1 lb shrimp
1 cup corn starch
1 tbsp blackening spice
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1 cup mayo
¼ cup sweet thai chili sauce
¼ tsp tabasco
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp sriracha

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and refrigerate until needed.  Can be made a day ahead.

Combine the corn starch, blackening spice and salt in a large bowl.  Coat the shrimp in the corn starch.  Fry at 375 for 2 or 3 minutes, until golden brown.  Toss shrimp in the sauce and serve immediately.

Pin It

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Spaghetti with meatballs and salad

Tuesday: Moroccan beef stew

Wednesday: Cottage pie

Thursday: Coconut chicken curry

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Monday, September 14, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Burrata, blistered cherry tomatoes and arugula salad

Tuesday: Coronation chicken sandwiches, potato salad

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Hot dogs, potato salad

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sunday, September 13, 2015

SRC - Pork Fajitas

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Cooking Mimi by Micha.  Micha's blog is full of wonderful looking recipes and I had a lot of fun looking through them all trying to decide what to make. It’s a mix of traditional Southern food, good old American home cooking, and her favorite ethnic inspired dishes.  Some of the recipes we  considered were the  Chicken Paprikash and the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake  because even though it's still 90 plus degrees here in TX, fall has officially arrived in our house!

We eventually settled on the  Pork Fajitas as Randal thought they looked good and fajitas are not something we make often, plus we have never had pork fajitas before.

We both really enjoyed them and would definitely make them again. We found a great deal on boneless pork ribs, which were perfect for this dishThe seasoning and flavours were great and we served ours with a touch of sour cream and our favourite mango salsa on the side.






1 lb boneless pork chops
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
flour tortillas
grated cheese and sour cream for serving

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice and taco seasoning in a large bowl.  Add the pork chops to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Slice the pork chops into strips and cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes.  Remove the pork,  add the sliced peppers and onion and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add the pork back into the pepper mixture.  Serve with tortillas, cheese and sour cream.


Pin It

P.F. Changs Spare Ribs

Randal's favourite thing on the PF Changs menu is the spare ribs.  I always know that when we go to Changs we will be getting the ribs, and luckily for Randal they are one of the only ribs I will actually eat, their Asian style bbq sauce is just so much better than ordinary bbq.  This copycat version tastes identical to the original and Randal loves being able to have the ribs anytime he wants to now!


1 cup ketchup
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 rack pork spare ribs
4 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame seeds

In a medium saucepan, add the ketchup, corn syrup, hoisin sauce, water, sugar, onion and vinegar.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Fill a large pan with water, bring to a boil and add a teaspoon of salt.  Slice the ribs into individual ribs and add to the boiling water, boil for 12 minutes, set aside to cool.

Heat vegetable oil in a large pan to 375.  Drop the ribs into the hot oil and fry for 2 or 3 minutes.  Toss the ribs with the sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.


Pin It